


dance with me tonight

by happytimelouis



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Dancer Harry, Dancing, Death, Fluff, Harry helps louis, Louis helps Harry, M/M, Panic Attacks, WIP, angsty but cute, house fire, its cute, louis has issues, major trigger warning for, not louis or harry dying tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 17:06:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10723572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happytimelouis/pseuds/happytimelouis
Summary: “You’re a fantastic dancer.”“Don’t sugar coat me, I look stupid,” Louis’ tone came out more bitter than he thought.“Oh, I’m not sugar coating you, I promise. I’m on a strict no sugar diet."or the one where Louis has gone through a traumatic event two years ago and his urged to get himself out of the house again and is stuck with the idea of a dance class from his therapist. Harry happens to be the best dance teacher around. Dancing, healing, and maybe a little romance ensue.





	dance with me tonight

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be pretty serious at points, and in this chapter it starts off majorly triggering with house fires/death. Later, panic attacks happen and are mentioned and there is a bit of description of it so please do not read it if that will cause you any stress or anxiety. <3

“No, no, no, please!” Louis practically screamed, an ache in his voice as he sat on the cold, wet asphalt of the road, cuts and scrapes over his hands and knees from failed attempts to crawl himself closer to the damage. The sheer brightness and heat from the flames made his head go foggy, as if the smoke wasn’t enough. Strong hands held him back and shouts and sirens were all his ears could hear, a long ringing played in the background of his mind, everything was overwhelming to his senses and he couldn’t feel anything except the wetness of his tears sliding down his face. Through blurry vision he watched the remains of his childhood home crumble to the ground, firemen running out, attempting to water down the fire. Every part of his body hurt, but his head was the worst of it all, and before another coherent thought could process, the world went blank.

\--  
Louis sat on a leather couch, hands in his lap as he waited for his therapist to step through the door. The room was quiet except the ticking of the clock on the wall and the breaths he was taking. The windows were closed, which Louis had the itch to stand up and go open them since the moment he noticed them. It was a small room, basic, had a shelf or two filled with books, a table between his couch and a chair and plants in the corners of the room that probably needed some watering. Water. He was thirsty, his mouth was dry and he wasn’t sure if it was from being nervous about their meeting but he wouldn’t put it past himself if it was.  
The door creaked open and Peter, his therapist, walked through with clipboard and papers in hand as he shut the door behind him softly, “Louis, good morning!” he greeted in a cheery tone as he usually did.  
“Morning,” He responded blandly.   
“How have you been?” He asked simply as he sat down across from him, setting his things on the table and looking at him with watchful eyes.  
“Not much different than two days ago,” Louis admitted to himself he was a bit sour, but his Aunt gave him three days a week with this therapist and he thought it was excessive.   
“Right,” Peter said unamused, resting back into his seat a bit more. “Let’s get to what we discussed. Our super fun social plan.”  
Louis badly wanted to let out a groan but held it in as Peter flipped through papers and grabbed a pen.   
He scribbled a few things then looked back up at him with a smile, “So, we decided together that you would join a class. Something fun and exciting that will get you back in a social situation, not too forced, but enough to get you back in the groove of things.”  
Louis half listened as he turned his attention to the windows again, his fingers playing with the hem of his shirt as he wondered if Peter would care if he got up and opened them.   
“Louis?” Peter’s voice broke through his worried thought. “You’re anxious about something. Do you want to talk about it?”  
Louis looked back to him, taking his hands off his shirt and clasped them together on his lap, realizing how telling his actions were to his emotions, “I’m fine. What class am I taking?”  
Peter took a few seconds before speaking again, “I came up with a fun way for you to decide.” He stood up and went to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a jar Louis hadn’t noticed there before and held it out to him. “This is full of classes you can take around where you live, all you have to do is grab one and we’ll get you started. Deal is, first choice is your only choice.”  
Louis looked between the jar and Peter, feeling the idea was stupid and maybe a childish way to decide, but there was no way out of it so he took a breath, nodded, and stuck his hand into the jar until his fingers came across the first slip of paper he found and pulled it out. He held the folded paper in his hand for a second as he looked at Peter who had an all too delighted face to find out, Louis couldn’t care less as he unfolded it and began to read what was written on it.  
“Dance class?!” Louis yelled holding the paper tight in his hand, utter distaste in his voice and expression. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, I get a redo.”  
“Now Louis, we said first choice was only choice,” Peter practically scolded him like a kid, setting the jar back where he got it from. “Dancing is a beautiful way to express your feelings and get some good exercise as well. Things you need, especially since you’ve been holding yourself up in your apartment. You have been trying to eat better, yes? The diet plan we started?”   
Louis maybe had a little guilt built up in him as he spoke, Peter seemed to care in some way about his wellbeing. He shrugged and kept silent and earned a disappointed sigh from him.  
“Let’s just get you signed up for the class, how are Thursdays for you?”

\--  
Thursday came way too fast. He had a session with Peter just the day before and they talked a bit more on how things might go, what to expect and to just have fun. He woke to a phone call from Peter, to remind him of the class that morning, which he would have slept through if he hadn’t rung him. Peter’s words rang through his head as he got himself ready, brushing his teeth as he slid his phone unlocked to check his notifications. Empty. He wasn’t surprised, no, just disappointed.   
He shuffled out of his bathroom, dragging his feet across the floor to his bedroom, opening his dresser drawer and digging out an old pair of shorts he probably hadn’t worn in a long while. He usually spent every day in his pajamas or a simple pair of black jeans when he’d go out. There was no in between with his fashion and he liked it that way. His therapist had even pointed out Louis had worn the same shirt each session one week and probably hadn’t showered either.  
He pulled on a simple tank top that had a few holes here and there and stood in front of the full body mirror that lay against his bedroom wall. He wiped his tired eyes with the backs of his hands and looked himself up and down. His eyes were tired, dark circles lined underneath them and pillow marks were left on his face. He stretched his arms up with a yawn, his shirt riding up to show off his stomach, he froze. A little pout formed on his lips, his hands moving to the flesh of his stomach and he sighed, squishing it between his fingers. He mentally scolded himself to try and be better and left the bedroom to the living room. His frown instantly changed to a smile as his beagle puppy, Pip, came bounding towards him with his tail wagging and ears flopping. He thought of Pip as Peter’s only good idea, having a pet companion did bring him a bit more joy than he thought it would have.  
Louis crouched down onto the balls of his feet and began to scratch behind the dogs nicely groomed fur, “Hey, bud. Busy day today, so I’ll be gone a bit longer than usual today. You’ll be good, yeah?” he smiled at Pip and gave him a little kiss before trudging over to the kitchen to poor him some food to last him the morning and afternoon, Pip instantly came to start eating it. “Oi, save some for lunch there, mate.”  
He slid the bag back into the cabinet and grabbed his water bottle from the fridge he’d left overnight to get cold. He tossed it over the counter onto a small duffel bag he left out that lay in the living room where a towel and a few other things sat inside.  
“Alright, Pip. I’ll see you in a few.” He walked around the kitchen and back to the living room, slipped on his trainers and grabbed a jacket. He put on his jacket and slung the bag over his shoulder and headed out his apartment complex.  
As soon as he hit the streets he pulled out his phone and typed in the address his therapist sent him for the dance studio into his phone GPS. It was a nice short walking distance which wasn’t too bad, Louis thought, especially since the weather was exceptionally nice. A slight breeze and a bright sun, how he liked it.   
He walked a steady pace when he hit more busy sidewalks, dodging people on his way. He hadn’t had a good walk in a while and actually enjoyed looking around, even sharing a few friendly smiles to strangers when they looked at him pass by. His phone chirped telling him he was a couple feet from his destination which would be on his left. Just as it said, a large studio building sat at the corner of a street, large windows lined the entire front and a sign that read, “Dance by Harry” sat above the door. The window had been covered in rainbow paint with the store hours and info in pretty fonts. He looked into the building and saw a fair amount of people around the room, some stretching, some conversing with each other. Louis shot a quick breath out, a twinge of nervousness and embarrassment flooded his mind as he pushed through the glass door into the building, a little bell ringing to announce his arrival.   
Almost everyone in the room turned to look at him as he took a few steps across the hardwood floors, he started to play with hem of his shirt and tried for a weak smile to those who had their eyes on him, nodding a little hello. Everyone just turned back to what they were doing and Louis seemed to relax a little at that.   
The room was big, entirely wooden floors, a wall of mirrors on each end of the room, any walls without mirrors were painted beautifully in floral pinks. At the back was a little counter that saw through to a kitchen, and a door to its left sat covered in photos.  
Louis set his bag by the wall on the right, looking at himself in the mirror a bit before turning around to face the others scattered around the room. All of them looked professional almost, he seemed underdressed as some were wearing nice flowy dresses or something with a bit of color or shine to it, he swallowed and felt himself start to sweat.   
Suddenly the chatter stopped and everyone turned to the door by the kitchen, it swung open quickly and a tall man with dark hair pulled into a bun strut into the room clipboard in his hand. He was wearing a loose, pink top that stopped an inch or two above his bellybutton, which Louis thought was a bold but admirable choice in clothing. The shirt was a bit see through which showed a faint outline of a few tattoos on his chest, despite the ones his arms were full of. Louis had never considered a tattoo, he always pictured them to belong to bigger, tougher people, but the man with the pink shirt and hair in a bun had a gentle look to him and a soft smile on his lips and walked with a clumsy skip in his step, like a baby deer. His clumsy step all brought a bit of a laugh to Louis when he realized he was the teacher of the dance class.  
“Good morning everyone,” he said, his voice was much deeper and smooth than Louis pictured while looking at him. “Welcome back to our class, and a hello to our new comers I see around the room too. I’m Harry.” His eyes scanned the room and landed on Louis for a few seconds, then back to the entire class in general. “For the next couple weeks, we’ll be learning some simple dance routines and work our way up to more intense ones if you all can handle it.”  
The class all nodded to what he said and listened along, Louis tried to focus but there was little interest.  
“If you were here last week, you’ll know the class unanimously decided we’ll start learning Salsa dancing this semester, so if you have a partner already, go ahead and grab them, if not mingle around!” Harry had a big excited grin on his face as he scribbled things on his clipboard and then quickly lift his head to look at the class.   
Louis on the other hand hated this, picking partners reminded him of school, always being picked last or ending up with someone gross or who ended up being a prick, he frowned. He thought to himself, maybe he could grab his things and head out, there were enough people around he’d probably not even be noticed. He didn’t sign up for humiliation anyway.   
“Everyone partnered up?” Harry called out, glancing around the room as he dropped the clipboard on the ground next to him.  
Louis panicked and reached for his duffel bag, he’d have enough time to slip out, right? He held his bag in his hand and stepped towards the door when a gentle voice stopped him.  
“Excuse me, sir? Do you not have a partner?” It was Harry, the teacher of the class. He took a very innocent stance, hands behind his back, shoulders forward a bit, as if to make himself small. He was maybe a few inches taller than him but he seemed to want to make himself tinier.  
“Oh,” Louis shook his head quickly, hoping it’d be a simple way out. “No, but it’s no bother, I-“  
“Oh!” Harry looked back at the class, then back to him with a sweet smile. “You can be mine if you’d like. I usually have an assistant but he’s off on a honeymoon right now.”  
Words from Peter filled his head, something about letting people be nice to him and accepting friendly gestures for once. He sighed to himself and looked up at Harry, “Err, well, if it’s not a bother…” He loosened his grip on his duffel bag and watched the teacher’s expression change to pure excitement.  
“It’s no bother at all!” Harry clapped his hands a little and waved for him to follow.   
Louis dropped his duffel bag back down where he’d left it in the first place and stepped cautiously through everyone behind Harry who had a bounce in his step as he made his way in front of the class.  
“Alright everyone! Our first steps will be alone, so everyone take a stand at neutral,” he stood himself up straight. “That’s just with your feet next to each other, simple standing.”  
Louis stood off to the side and watched the class get in a simple standing position, someone began clearing their throat and he turned his head in that direction. Harry was getting his attention, beckoning him over.   
Louis shuffled over and stood next to him, his heart starting to race as he realized the entire class was looking his way.  
“This is…” Harry raised his eyebrows searching for his name.  
“Uh, Louis. I’m Louis.”  
“This is Louis, he and I will be demonstrating our first dance steps.”  
“Oh, wait, n-no, I don’t know how to-“ Louis blurted out, starting to take a step backwards.  
“It’s easy,” Harry assured. “Just watch my feet and follow along, okay? That’s how you get better, you practice.” The class let out a bit of a laugh in unison, as if they were used to this kind of thing happening.   
Louis regretted agreeing to pulling it out from a jar, he regretted agreeing to try and be social, regretted agreeing to his aunt to get counseling and therapy, he thought it’d help his anxiety and issues, but this was just bringing it all back. He wiped his hands on the legs of his pants to wipe off the nervous sweat and looked back to Harry with an unsure nod of his head.  
He tried to listen as Harry described the count they would use, stepping forward with your left on ‘one’, stepping in the same place with your right on ‘two’, and so on, but it was all in one ear and out the other, and the ringing in his ears from his nervousness didn’t help.   
“Louis? Will you try?” Harry asked expectantly, a little smile on his face.  
Louis gave another little nod, gulping as he took the first step, trying to remember all the numbers and when to step and which foot to step with. He ended up stepping forward too much and with the wrong foot, “Wait, fuck-Hold on, let me try again.” He felt his cheeks get warm with embarrassment, knowing the classes eyes were on him, and probably laughing, his heart was beating hard now which was never a good sign. He retook neutral position when Harry stepped up right beside him and started speaking up to the class.  
“Alright everyone, let’s start practicing, yeah? I’ll start the count,” Harry began counting in a four count.  
Within a few counts most of class got it with the help of Harry walking and showing everyone individually, Louis included, and he was starting to feel a bit proud of himself. The last time he’d ever danced was years ago with his sister, before she went to her homecoming dance, she didn’t know how to dance with her date and he offered her some of his tips. His dancing reminded him of that, he was clumsy and looked a bit silly but his sister was patient and let him have that big brother moment.  
Louis could feel Harry’s eyes on him as he got the simple steps down, “Holy shit,” a smile started to creep onto his face. “I think I have it down.”  
Harry giggled light and freely, “See, I told you it was easy.”  
Louis shook his head and rolled his eyes as he stopped his steps.  
“While they keep practicing it, I’ll teach you what’s next. If you want,” Harry offered as his arms found their way back behind himself.   
“I guess,” Louis murmured back, shrugging up his shoulders. “Especially if you’re making me show everyone how it’s done.”  
“You’re like my new trusty assistant.”  
“More like clumsy assistant.”  
“You’re a fantastic dancer.”  
“Don’t sugar coat me, I look stupid,” Louis’ tone came out more bitter than he thought.  
“Oh, I’m not sugar coating you, I promise. I’m on a strict no sugar diet,” Harry’s smile was cheeky but voice serious.  
Louis wanted to say something but kept quiet and shook his head, a little smile making its way onto his face, “Just teach me what’s next.”  
He listened to Harry’s words, it was the same simple step but whoever followed, instead of lead, started the step back instead of forward, but it didn’t come easy for Louis. He cursed himself every time he stepped wrong, letting go to run a stressed hand through his hair and start over, making sure to listen to the count.  
After getting it down, sort of, one time Louis called it quits to let Harry explain it to the class. As he did, Louis silently hated on himself, why was the simplest steps something he couldn’t accomplish? The thought of bailing on the class again, sparing himself from major embarrassment in front of all these people. He’d already made himself look like a fool in the beginning, why continue? He started calculating how far the door was, how far his bag was, and where Harry’s gaze was. He couldn’t handle the nervous sweats he was getting and knew if anything if it got worse he’d be the biggest fool.  
“Are you alright?” Harry’s voice interrupted his plotting.  
“Yeah, yeah,” Louis took a breath that ended up being a bit shaky. “I’m actually feeling a bit sick to my stomach.” It wasn’t a lie, he did feel a bit gross. He felt anxious knowing he probably looked sickly and sweaty, noticeably not okay, and with Harry watching and probably the class too it brought the nervous scale up even more. Why did he have to get like this now?  
He took a deep breath and unclenched his hands he hadn’t realized he’d been keeping in fists so tight. They were starting to feel like pins and needles, the feeling in them fading.  
“You don’t look so good; do you want some water?” Harry rest a hand on his shoulder gently. “Let me-Louis?”  
Louis felt his breath hitch and his hands were shaking, his forehead grew sweaty and he panted for breath since his throat felt like it was closing on him. No, no, not now.  
“Oh, god, do you need a doctor?” Harry’s voice was rushed and panicked.  
Louis shook his head quickly and squeezed his eyes shut, he strained to steady his breathing and without thinking he reached and grabbed the fabric of Harry’s shirt and clenched it tightly in his fingers to feel grounded, so he wouldn’t lose consciousness. He felt Harry’s arm wrap around his shoulder, holding him up and rubbing against his arm soothingly as he started to be ushered somewhere.  
Louis opened his eyes, years were built up in them from keeping them closed so tight. Harry was leading him to the back door he’d come through earlier, the one covered in photos.  
Once Harry opened the door and they entered, they were inside the small kitchen and office area, on the left was a desk with papers and folders scattered all along it with knick knacks and little plants of different sizes. On the right was a kitchen island with different utensils and cookware and a wraparound counter with cabinets above and below.  
“What are-“ Louis choked out through a try for breath, feeling Harry’s large hands grab his waist without hesitation. Harry sat him down on the kitchen island and ran around to the sink. Louis tried to remember Peter’s “Panic Attack Battle Plan” for when he gets one, but his mind was too jumbled to process anything going on, trying not to throw up or pass out and fall off the counter. He felt so stupid. Everyone in class probably saw him, worse, Harry watched it happen and is currently watching him choke for air and mutter to himself to calm down, he didn’t want him to feel obligated to stop class to help him.   
Harry came from the sick and in front of Louis, “Here,” he used a gentle hand to brush Louis’ fringe from his forehead and placed a damp, cool towel there. “Don’t move, give me two seconds.” And with that he was back out the door talking to the class.  
Louis held onto the wet cloth and took a few deep breaths again, his chest started to hurt and he started to feel lightheaded. He leaned back onto the granite countertop and closed his eyes to block the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, “Couldn’t even handle a damn dance class, Tomlinson,” he sputtered to himself. “Now the dance teacher thinks you’re insane, along with the whole class. Fuck.”  
Maybe his therapist was wrong, which might be a bit of a reach, but maybe Louis was destined to lock himself up in his apartment forever with his dog and cozy pajamas. Yeah, that sounded good right about now. He focused on that to calm his nerves.  
The sound of the door creaking open pulled him from his thoughts, but he didn’t care to look up, he already felt embarrassed enough and looking anyone in the eye right now would make him throw up for sure. He kept his eyes shut, but heard what must’ve been Harry stepping around the room, the scraping of a metal chair across the tile floor towards him. Louis noticed the lighting through his eyelids change and his eyes fluttered open to see Harry above him, the kitchen lighting glowing around him like some angelic glow, it was a little laughable.  
Harry’s eyebrows furrowed and quirked his head to the side, “Are you quite alright?”  
“I think so,” he whispered out. His stomach started to settle and his hands started to regain feeling. “Sorry I interrupted your class, it was kind of pointless I came anyway.” He tried to keep his voice light.  
“Don’t be sorry. Why was it pointless?” Harry frowned, visibly disappointed.  
“It’s not you, that came out wrong, sorry,” he mentally punched himself in the face. “I’m just-Dancing isn’t my forte.”  
Harry giggled, Louis’ stomach felt a bit sick when he heard it, though he wasn’t sure it was in a bad way this time, “I told you, that’s why you take dance classes. You practice. And then it’s your forte.”   
“Yeah, yeah,” Louis sighed and pulled himself up off the island and onto the floor. His head ached a little, like it did after his panic attacks, “My bag has aspirin in it, I should go- “  
“Wait,” Harry turned to the cabinets behind him and pulled out a bottle of painkillers, “Here you go.”  
“Oh. Thanks,” he reached for the bottle and twisted the cap open, taking out the pills and handed it back to Harry.   
He watched as Harry went and got him a glass of water, a bit of guilt built up in Louis again, he didn’t mean to go full blown panic attack on him and have Harry cater to his needs, if he had stayed home he would have felt much better and none of this would have happened.   
This time Harry jumped up on the kitchen counter, next to where Louis had just jumped off from. He watched him with side eyes while taking the pills, sipping the water until he emptied it, setting it next to Harry.  
“Sorry, again,” Louis reiterated, trying not to meet eyes with him again.  
“Don’t be,” he insisted, lacing his fingers together in his lap and giving off a smile. “But…What exactly happened?”  
Louis hummed low, closing his eyes again as he continued to press the washcloth against his forehead, resting his back against the counter next to him, “Just…panicked.”  
“Oh. Like a panic attack?” he hushed his words like it was a deep secret.  
“Yeah,” he replied flatly.  
“Sorry,” Harry said in the same tone as before. “I shouldn’t have asked.”  
“No, no, it’s alright, it’s just shit when it happens and I just have to deal with it.”  
“Does it happen often?”  
Recently, no, Louis could admit, he’s kept himself locked up tight in his apartment living off ramen and staying with his dog, the real world was just too much for him to deal with anymore and when the world reminded him of his anxieties it hit him hard.  
“Depends on the situation…”   
“Did I do something wrong? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or, like…I don’t know, scare?”  
“I’m not used to this,” he waved his hands around himself, gesturing between them both. “It’s just not my forte.”  
“What, so nothings your forte?” Harry’s tone was teasing but Louis just frowned.  
“Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know,” he pushed his hands through his slightly damp, sweaty hair.   
Awkward silence. Louis fiddled with the end of his shirt and focused on that only.  
He watched in his side vision Harry slide off the counter and to the door, where he grabbed a set of keys hanging by it, “Class is over in twenty-five minutes, I can drive you home if you need,” he blinked a few times and shrugged. “Only if you’re okay with that. I just thought its better than going alone.”   
“The gesture is sweet, Harry, but I’m quite a mess and you’ve done enough, really,” he offered the fondest smile he could muster up and set the washcloth down on the counter.  
“Oh, okay,” he spoke quietly. Louis watched as the taller man just shrunk himself down, shoulders forward, head hung down a bit. “Will you be coming back next week?” Harry’s voice was littered with concern.  
Louis knew he’d never be able to go through another class with that many people, but Harry seemed to really expect a yes answer. He rubbed at his eyes and sighed a little, “I don’t know if I can handle this many people watching me mess up.”  
“Oh,” Harry’s browns turned down in a bit of thought, raising a finger to his lips to think for a second. “Oh! Would you be interested in a private class? I think you have real potential, truly. You’re fun to dance with.”  
Louis was a bit shocked, a bit at the attempt Harry was making to keep him in class and a bit Harry thought him as ‘fun’, “You sure you’re talking to the right guy? I was a right fool.”  
Harry looked around the room, “Yeah, there’s no one else in here but you.”  
Louis wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or smack him. He retraced his thoughts, his therapist would kill him if he had another fail attempt at a plan to help him, “Okay. I’ll do it but…no more bad jokes.”  
“Done, they’re all gone,” a cheery smile sat on his face.  
“Louis raised a brow at Harry but refrained from speaking any further about it, “I should get going.”  
Harry nodded in response, folding one arm over the other, stepping towards the door, “I’ve only got a bit more of class to teach until after lunch hour. Are you sure you don’t want to wait so I can take you home?”   
Louis nodded, “Yeah, I think the fresh air will be good for me.”  
Louis walked through the class as they practiced the steps, Harry had taken stand back in the front and started instructing the class on a new dance step. He grabbed his bag, watching Harry do his teaching a bit before walking to the door.  
“Bye Louis!” Harry called out, waving his hand frantically with the goofiest grin.  
Louis bit his lip and froze a bit, knowing everyone was back to looking at him, but he waved back simply and smiled at Harry before heading out the ringing door and onto the sidewalk again. Maybe dance class wouldn’t be too bad, for anxiety reasons of course.


End file.
